“He’s actually one of my favorite people. Jim has this ability to get subtlety that really works in all of his films”- Winona Ryder
The first Jim Jarmusch film I watched was Only Lovers Left Alive, a romance between two vampires reaching across centuries. Immediately I fell in love with it, but it was Night On Earth that made me fall in love with Jarmusch and his storytelling. It is difficult to know where to start when talking about my admiration of him, so I’ll start with Winona Ryder.
Winona Ryder is my hero. I have grown up watching her films and have always deeply related with nearly every character she has ever played. She herself is a huge Jim Jarmusch fan, and a genuine cinephile. The reason I watched Night On Earth to begin with is because Ryder stars in the first anthology of the film, and it was only after watching it that I realized it had been directed by the same man who did another favorite of mine, Only Lovers Left Alive. Unsurprisingly, she knocks her role out of the park, and I had prepared to be uninterested in every other story in this film since I had decided I was only watching to see her. The only word I can come up with to describe my experience with the following hour or so of the film is religious. Night On Earth is rich with characters with even richer personalities coming from all different walks of life and experiences; each vignette ranging from viscously funny, heartbreakingly real, and emotionally touching in a way that you never would have been prepared for. So much happens for the entire film to be taken place in exclusively taxi cabs between strangers.
One particular character that sticks out to me is Roberto Benigni who plays the cab driver in Rome. He picks up a priest played by Paolo Bonacelli, and decides to take advantage of the opportunity by confessing his sins. I won’t go into too much detail about all that he confesses, because it’s probably the funniest moment of the whole film and best heard from the film itself. Benigni and Jarmusch are a duo that works perfectly, as shown in another favorite film of mine Down By Law. (Incidentally one of Winona Ryder’s favorites as well!) I love Jim Jarmusch because fundamentally, he makes films about people. The beauty of Night On Earth specifically is the intimacy, whether desired or not, between strangers together on a journey under the cover of night. The script is filled with vulnerability coming from both passenger and driver, and Jarmusch’s understanding of the ‘human condition’ is so prevalent in every frame of every scene of this film. On top of that, I have to talk about Jim Jarmusch and music.
Tom Waits and Jim Jarmusch have been collaborative friends for over 30 years. Waits actually created the soundtrack for Night On Earth. I had been a casual listener of his music but after seeing his performance in Down By Law and hearing the music in Night On Earth, he has become one of my favorite artists over time. His voice is haunting and his music is reminiscent of circus tunes gone bad. In other words, a perfect pairing for a Jarmusch film. With his “raspy voice” and his “knack for portraying devilish outsiders and absolute weirdos”, (Zach Schonfeld for Pitchfork) the partnership was destined for greatness. Jarmusch has made some music himself, being his band called Sqürl which composed the soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive which also happens to be one of my favorite film scores of all time. He paints himself as a control freak and unwilling to take notes from people that suggest cutting things down, and as an artist I have deep respect for the way he makes the art he wants to make without pandering to what would supposably be successful in the mainstream. To quote Jarmusch, “I consider myself an amateur, because the root of the word amateur contains the word love.” He has been an independent creator his whole career and I do not suspect that that will ever change, and rightfully so.
I had the intention of writing a somewhat sophisticated think-piece about Jim Jarmusch and his style and technique, but instead I produced a semi word-vomited diary entry. Regardless, Jarmusch has been a great inspiration to me as an artist, as a human being, and as someone who wants to eventually become a filmmaker. Him along with his many collaborators over the years have meant so much to me and I can see myself in everything he does, so despite my intentions for this piece it is still, after all, a love letter.